pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou

A few months back I found a huang-pian offering from an off label on a Chinese site that I’d have to say is simply the very best ripe I’ve tasted so far. It’s an ‘06 called simply Banzhang Thick Brick. Most ripes go in the mouth and down the gullet impressing the drinker with incremental variations this way or that in terms of sweetness, mustiness, astringency, and body. Huigan and yun, being what they are, usually don’t produce a lasting effect similar to raws, Moonlight Whites, or Yunnan gold. This is where this brick really excels. Lot’s of productions after some time often have that “old section of the library” taste, newspaper, or cardboard, especially as they age. I’d be interested to know if others have experienced this and if it is attributable to too dry a storage. My Hailanghao Thick Brick, for instance, has started to express this without going through a sweet stage from its original husky astringency. It also expresses a taste similar to freshly rancid grapes, the taste you get when you pack some for a trip in a basket in a hot car for an hour or two. Not sure what to make of that taste.
Anyway, this brick doesn’t have any of that. It’s as though it were wet-stored for a very short time before being dry-stored. The must, though there, only adds a certain character, which compliments the sweetness. The first few infusions release an evident camphor effect and taste in the huigan. Then there are spice notes of cinnamon and ouud. These notes just linger and linger in the mouth. It also yields quite a number of infusions, more than 10 per six or seven grams ina 150ml pot.

2009 “60” Longyuan Tea Co. This one is raw and tasty, a bit of a Bulang or Wuliang taste. Sweet, a pinch of smoke most noticeable in the huigan, early spring material, so leaves are on the small side. Good cha-qi. The real deal with this brick is that 1) it was stored nicely, though it went through hell in shipping (I got it for the wrapper and it’s all shredded); and the craft in forming the brick. Most are packed like hockey pucks, literally requiring chiseling and scraping to get bits for consumption but handy if encountering bandits, wolves or wild boar on the way to grandma’s. This one is decidedly NOT like that. One of the best I’ve run across. Clear broth, nice body. A good drinker for the one who likes the tobaccoey tasting raws, where everything blends together just perfectly. Definitive thumbs up! The “60” is marking the 60th Anniversary of the PRC’s founding, so it’s a commemorative brick.

A few weeks ago I broke out my latest aging experiment. Sent out samples of the 2011 Yunnan Dayi Menghai Spring Natural Fine Raw Puer tea from Berylleb King Tea. The tea was stored by me , three bings in different storage. One was stored in a cardboard box, another in my pumidor loose, and a third stored in the pumidor shrink wrapped in plastic. I sent out samples marked A, B, and C. There were five participants including Mr Mopar, Boychik, Marcus Reed, and Cwyn. This time everything went smoothly as everyone chose to participate. There were in the end mixed results. No one chose the cardboard storage as best, they were all able to discern which was the cardboard storage over the pumidor. There was mixed opinion about which of the other two was best. I thought that the one wrapped in plastic had the most fruity taste while the one stored loose in the pumidor was admittedly very smooth. The tea itself was pretty good, a nice young Dayi sheng with a fairly apricotty taste to it. I made the tea in three identical gaiwans, each with around 8g of tea for a 100ml gaiwan. They were all given identical rinse times and steep times. I was surprised that I liked the shrink wrapped tea slightly more than the tea loose in the pumidor. I’m sure the others will all have their takes on it. I was waiting for everyone to get to their teas to post this.

Drank 2015 Chawangpu Menghai again tonight, hit the spot. The empty cup has a strong honey odor which is the direction a good Menghai leaf will go over the years as the bitterness changes over. One positive about this cake is the low char compared to a Dayi tuo. The teenage years on the Chawangshop cake will be more pleasant tasting for this reason.

Drank an aged ripe tea today, the 1996yr Yunnan Menghai Fangzuang Puer Tea Brick 500g Ripe today. While I can only take Fengyuan at their word I have no way to be sure this tea is from 1996. It had no fermentation flavor left at least. I also expected some storage taste so gave it two rinses. There was just a fleeting amount of wet wood in the first steep then nothing. This tea was thick and sweet in the early infusions. In steep two I detected a note I can only call prunes. This note didn’t last but the sweetness in this tea did. For a cheap brick won on auction for only $24 this was excellent. I’m sure it does not compare to a ripe Dayi from 1996 but then again I don’t know anyone selling ripe Dayis from 1996. All in all this was an excellent tea for the price. I’m not sure what other people have had with experiences from Fengyuan. So far they seem largely on the up and up but I’m not sure. They sell a lot of older tea for just too low a price. In any case this was good.

Drank 2012 Bulang Gushu Ancient tree from Crimson Lotus last night.

It was dreamy and creamy and everything in between. Dare I mention, I licked my cup? Came from a 2 kilo brick, got a 250g bag. Large generous chunks of pure delight. Lots of flavor, notes of sweet caramel, vanilla and dried fruits with a hint of spice.
Not your typical earthy, leathery shou.

A very clean, rich and thick mouthfeel.

I enjoyed it tremendously, and will need to get some more before it disappears! (Though I’d feel a lot more comfortable having the massive 2 kilo brick sitting in my house…just saying)

Today I drank 2002 CNNP 7542 Zhong Cha by Streetshop88. I have bought a number of solid ripes from Streetshop88. I decided to give one of their aged raws a shot. This is a middle aged 7542 that sells for $33 a cake, so I had my doubts. That’s not much more than a new 7542 after all. Well, as far as I can tell, this is the real deal. It brewed a nice bronze color. The broth was clear, the leaves were in good shape, and I was able to get lots of flavorful infusions, as you’d expect from this tea. There was no humid storage flavors. It tasted its age. This is probably the best bargain I’ve seen for a quality factory tea that is more than 10 years old. I have only a sample so I’ll probably buy a cake.

They have a 1997 CNNP Yiwu for $75. I may try a sample of that next.

2004 CNNP Loose Tea 421 (Export) – Life in Teacup

I’ve been away from my puerh collection for awhile. It wasn’t like I moved away & left them somewhere, I was just so busy I couldn’t find the time to savor them, so why drink them? I also didn’t have time to read this discussion board, and even though it’s been 2 months since I quit my (short lived) job & went back to being a fully self supported musician, it’s taken awhile to get caught up on things. My permaculture project has taken up the majority of my free time, but since it’s been so hot this week, I’m spending a little more time in the house, drinking tea. Finally, time for puerh. And time to read a few pages to see what you guys have been drinking!

I started drinking this one yesterday afternoon when it got too hot to be outside. It started out tasting kind of creamy, then peatmoss & leather, then sweet dried fruits. Today after a quick rinse, it’s still enjoyable. Nothing fancy to the taste, but the energy is very lively, my tastebuds are dancing, my soft palate & sinuses are a little scratchy. I’ve got that good tea buzz that I was missing for awhile, and maybe I’ll go find a shady spot in the yard relax, or go take a nap.

Today I drank the oldest tea I have ever drank, the 1992yr Yunnan Zhongcha Brand Aged Puer Cake Cha Puer Tea Raw from Fengyuan Tea Shop on EBay. This tea actually seemed to be quite old. The color of the leaves was dark black. The color of the tea soup was dark brown at first and then a reddish brown as it was resteeped. While I do not think this was a high quality tea I do believe that the age is about right. I have my doubts as to whether this is a real Zhong Cha or a fake because I only paid around $50. There was a certain amount of storage taste of wet wood, for about the first three steeps. After this it was a mix of positive and negative flavors. It was not all sweet flavors like one might hope for in an old tea. Still, I enjoyed this tea and think it is really an old aged tea from that period of the 90s.

2010 Xiaguan Nanzhao Tuo 100g. Representative Wulang tuo by Xiaguan, not smoky. The storer had it in some funky place but after a week, it took about four infusions to get to it, whereas when I first got it the taste was immediately filthy. Dark brew, sweet, representative mediciney Wuliang taste, negligible bitterness. Tasty and pleasurable. A reviewer on the Puercn.com notes that this material is considerably poorer than the whole cake, which I’ve yet to bust into. If you like Wuliang Shan, then this one won’t disappoint you. Comes in a sexy orange octagonal box, with the tuo wrapped in white wrapper, fat yellow characters outlined in red, with a gree crane in the center. Red, gold, and green… how can you go wrong?